Wings of Our Ancestors
by moderndayclotho
Summary: Young Harry Potter meets Augusta and Neville Longbottom at Kings Cross Station, which leads to a brand new life for Harry. A world beyond imagine is opened up to Harry and Neville and will change the course of the Wizarding World forever.
1. A Troublesome Meeting

Harry walked the platform of King's Cross Station, bewildered at how he was supposed to find Platform 9 and 3/4, it did not make sense! Harry wondered around for a couple minutes, trying to find something that looked distinctly wizardly, but found nothing out of the ordinary. In between Platforms 9 and 10, he had stopped and looked for a bobby to ask for directions when he curiously noticed a young boy with hunched shoulders and brown hair, and an eccentric older woman wearing a hat with a pheasant on the top, strangely stopping in front one of the pillars between Platforms 9 and 10.

"Now, Neville," Harry heard the old woman say in a gentle, but no-nonsense tone, "don't be frightened of the barrier, never once in all of my experience has it ever failed. Just run at it quickly and remember to open your eyes so that you don't run into anyone. Go on, dear, I'll be right behind you." With a gentle shove on the small of his back, the woman propelled the boy into movement, and he went jogging towards the wall, head-on. Harry froze and made a strangled noise as he witnessed the boys impending doom, but to his shock, he saw the boy slide effortlessly into the wall and out of sight.

The woman must have heard him and sensed he was a wizard because as she saw him, she called, "Where are your parents? Do you need help getting across the barrier, dearie?"

The woman's voice jarred him from his frozen state and he answered lamely, "Umm… I'm trying to get to Hogwarts…?" The last word came out hesitant, unsure as to what the woman was alluding to.

"Well, of course you are!" The woman walked towards him, "What is your name, love?"

Harry answered shyly, "Harry Potter, ma'am. My parents aren't…" He trailed off not knowing how to answer and looked down at his feet. If Harry had looked up at the woman, he would have seen her face soften, eyes misting softly.

"It certainly is wonderful to finally meet you, Mr. Potter. I knew your father as a young boy, you look much like him. My name is Augusta Longbottom." Mrs. Longbottom placed her hand out for Harry to shake, when she saw his head shoot up with disbelieving eyes.

"You knew my dad?" Harry's voice was full of wonder and desire.

"I did, indeed, quite the charming young fellow, but now is not the time to reminisce. We must be getting you on the train, my boy." Mrs. Longbottom put her hand on young Harry's back, noticing but not commenting on the slight flinch he made when she touched him. "Where are your guardians?"

Harry looked down with flaming cheeks, "They couldn't be here today. They dropped me off at the entrance, ma'am."

"And no one from the school came to escort you?"

"No, ma'am. Hagrid took me to get my things, but he had to leave, too."

Augusta looked down, aghast at thought that Dumbledore sent Hagrid to care for the boy, instead of an actual teacher, when it was obvious that the boy was raised by Muggles. She quickly put the thought away for another time and lead Harry to stand directly in front of the barrier.

"Now, all you have to do is run straight at the wall, Mr. Potter. It is not a real wall, only enchanted to look that way, to not raise suspicion in the Muggles. Once you go through, quickly move out of the way and do your best not to hit anyone."

Harry's eyes widened, and he looked at Mrs. Longbottom with trepidation, "What happens if the barrier doesn't let me through?"

Mrs. Longbottom looked down at Harry and smiled gently, "The barrier has never failed to allow a witch or wizard entrance in all of its existence. Simply run at the wall, my dear."

It was obvious that Harry did not believe her, but he took a deep breath, steeled his shoulders and started a brisk jog towards the wall. He squeezed his eyes shut just as his trolley made it to the wall, bracing for impact. When he was not meet with resistance, he opened his eyes and was met with a wondrous, breathtaking sight. A new platform materialized in front of him, people in robes milling about, and a huge, red, gleaming train in front of him. Harry looked around in disbelief at the magical sight. At the last second, he remembered Mrs. Longbottom's voice telling him to move out of the barriers path. Just as he had moved towards the boy Mrs. Longbottom was directing earlier, out came the lady in question.

The boy next to Harry exclaimed, "Gran! What took you so long?"

Mrs. Longbottom walked gracefully towards the pair and gestured towards Harry, "I had to help young Mr. Potter here across the barrier." Mrs. Longbottom looked at Harry and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Mr. Potter, meet my grandson, Neville Longbottom. Neville, this is Harry."

Neville's eyes widened, and he put his hand out, awestruck at meeting _the_ Harry Potter, "Hi! It's nice to meet you."

Harry blushed and nodded, "It's nice to meet you, too." placing his hand in Neville's. After Neville released his hand, Harry looked at the ground with blushing cheeks and a slightly puzzled looked on his face, not used to people being so polite to him.

Mrs. Longbottom watched to two eleven-year-olds with a slight smile. "Alright boys," she looked at the large clock on the Platform wall, "it's almost 10:30, time to get on the train." She watched as her grandson looked at Harry and seemed to understand that he was not what the Daily Prophet spouted about the fabled _Boy-Who-Lived_. Neville looked at Harry and squared his shoulders and decided to become friends with the painfully shy boy.

Neville started pushing his trolley towards the train, looking back at Harry expectantly. "Would you like to sit together, Harry? It might be nice to sit with a friend!"

Mrs. Longbottom's suspicions were further raised when she saw Harry's eyes open widely and he gasped, "You want to be my friend? I have never had a real friend before"

Harry blushed furiously as he seemed to realize what he said, and once again, he lowered his gaze and pulled his trolley in front of him protectively. Almost as if he expected to be punished for his forwardness.

Neville nodded slowly then smiled reassuringly at Harry, "Of course I want to be your friend! It wouldn't be any fun to ride all the way to Hogwarts by myself!"

Harry looked up shyly and smiled shakily, "I would like to sit with you, too." Harry's eyes dropped back down to the floor, and he missed the meaningful glance passed between grandmother and grandson; Neville would look after Harry.

"Well, you two go on ahead and get a good seat on the train." Mrs. Longbottom hugged Neville tightly, "Now, be a good boy, Neville, and don't forget to write! I want at least one letter a week." As they parted, she swept her fingers across her cheek and softly smiled at him. "I'm so proud of you, Neville, and I know your parents would be, too. I love you."

Neville's eyes widened and watered slightly, and he whispered, "Thanks, Gran. I love you, too." He hugged her tightly again before walking towards the train.

Harry stood awkwardly to the side during this exchange, not sure what to do. He started walking toward the train, when he was pulled softly into a warm embrace by Mrs. Longbottom. He tensed slightly, arms stiff at his side.

"It was lovely to meet you, dear. Your parents would be so proud to see you off to Hogwarts. If you ever want to hear more about them, don't hesitate to write. Now, be safe!" Mrs. Longbottom released Harry from her arms and gently pushed him towards the train entrance.

Harry looked back, smiling uncertainly, "Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom. It was really nice to meet you, too." Harry turned back and walked towards Neville, who was currently pulling his trunk into the train cars.

"Come on, Harry! Let's go and get a good seat!"

Harry stood up straighter and climbed onto the steps of the train, "I'm coming!"

Mrs. Longbottom smiled at the two boys and went to sit on a bench, to wait for the train to depart before leaving. Mrs. Longbottom began to think over the strange and concerning reactions of the young Potter boy. Something was not right in that situation and she was going to figure out what.


	2. The Train Ride

Chapter 2: The Train Ride Pt. 1

Harry sat quietly in the train-car, sneaking glances at Neville as he purchased his candy from the trolley lady. The first half of the train ride had gone smoothly. Neville was not chatty, but talked enough for the ride to not be awkward. Harry would respond every once in a while, still used to being seen and not heard. When it became apparent that Neville wanted him to respond, he was a little hesitant, but glad that he finally seemed to be making a friend. Neville didn't seem like the bullies that Dudley tried to trick Harry with sometimes, either.

Hedwig hooting softly by his side and Harry stroked her feathers, thinking about the Longbottoms. They were kind to him and even though Mrs. Longbottom was a little unusual, her hug was the warmest thing he had ever felt. When he was six, he had a kind teacher who gave him a jacket and hot cocoa at recess during the winter. She was very nice to him, but she had gotten married the following summer and moved to London with her new husband, and he never saw her again. Mrs. Longbottom's hug felt a lot like that, he thought, a longing pulling on him that he couldn't quite define. It felt dangerous to want something he knew he would never get.

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts by Neville calling his name, "Harry! Are you okay, I called your name three times."

Neville looked concerned, and Harry felt bad for causing the boy any trouble, face blushing slightly.

"I'm okay. Just lost in thought, I guess," Harry said quietly. "Did you get the candy you wanted?"

Neville smiled and nodded, "Yeah! I didn't know what candy you liked so I got you some of my favorites!" Neville held out his hand to show a small bag that held a variety of candy.

Harry just stared at the bag. He couldn't remember a time when someone had gotten him something, simply because they wanted to, without prompting from himself. He wondered what Neville wanted in return. The amount of candy in the bag looked like it had cost a lot of money.

Harry looked up, and realized he must have spoken out loud when he saw Neville's smile dim, "Harry, I… I don't want anything in return," he said hesitantly. "I just didn't want you to be upset that you didn't have anything. I wanted us to share; that's what friends do."

Neville continued to hold the bag out until Harry reluctantly took the bag from his hand, still unsure about the situation, but slightly in awe of the kindness Neville was showing him. The Longbottom's were very perplexing, but he kind of liked it.

"Thank you, Neville." The blinding smile that erupted on Neville's face made Harry warm inside. With a small blush staining his cheeks, he asked, "Which one is your favorite?"

Neville pointed to a light blue box with a picture with a mouse on it, "Ice Mice are my favorite, but Chocolate Frogs are a close second. My gran always says, 'You can never go wrong with chocolate.'"

Harry looked at Neville with a small smile and took one of the Chocolate Frogs out of the bag and began to open it. When the top was off, a brown blur came jumping towards his face, and he caught it with a deft hand before it could hit him.

Neville let out a quick chuckle, "That was some catch!"

Harry's widened eyes stared at Neville, unsure whether he was blatantly ignoring the fact that a piece of candy just flew at his face, or if living candy was normal in the Wizarding World. Harry looked back and forth between the candy and Neville for a moment, "Is it … _normal_ for candy to be … alive … in the magical world?"

Neville's eyes widened in disbelief, "Wha-? You mean, you've never had a chocolate frog before?! ... And, what do you mean magical world?" Harry watched as Neville floundered for a moment, the silence uncomfortable in the other boy's disbelief.

"Harry, do you… not live in the Wizarding World?"

Harry's cheeks flooded with embarrassment, even though he wasn't sure what he was embarrassed about, "Um, no. I live with my aunt and uncle. They're muggles."

…

Neville knew that something was amiss in the other boy when he saw his grandmother sheppard the boy like a scared lamb. Not that Gran was rude or harsh to him, but many people did not see the kind, loving woman behind the facade she had to put on as the matriarch of the Longbottom family. Only with a select number of people did she let her guard down and when he saw the boy's shy, timid nature bring her soft side to the surface, he knew that they would be taking him under their wings.

Neville was shocked learn that the shy, trepidatious boy was the famed, Boy-Who-Lived. All of the stories and books portrayed Harry as a confident, bigger-than-life hero who defeated Voldemort and since that night, had slain dozens more villains. Real life Harry Potter was nothing like the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter. Neville was confused by the way Harry acted, but was endeared to the sweet boy, and wanted to help break him out of his shell a little. The train ride was slightly awkward, and Harry seemed to be lost in his own little world. Neville's concern continued to rise at Harry's reaction to the candy, but all concern washed away into complete disbelief when Harry revealed he was raised by muggles.

"You… what? You were raised by muggles? B-but, you're Harry Potter! You couldn't have been raised by muggles!" Neville was immediately ashamed of his outburst when he saw Harry curl even farther within himself. "I'm sorry. That was rude. It's just- you're the heir to the Potter line and the defeater of Voldemort, you should have been raised by your magical guardians."

Harry's eyes bleed confusion, "What's a magical guardian? My aunt and uncle are my guardians, but they aren't magical, they're just muggles. They didn't even tell me that I was a wizard. Hagrid had to tell me."

"Hagrid was the one to tell you about the Wizarding World?" Now it was Neville's turn to be confused. Although he did not have any muggle friends, he knew that the Hogwarts professors took the whole month of August to meet and introduce young muggleborn wizards and witches into the Wizarding community, and to his understanding, Hagrid was the groundskeeper, not a professor. "What professor came to give you your introduction?" Neville was willing to give the Hogwarts staff the benefit of the doubt, but it was strange to think that Rubeus Hagrid was the only connection the Wizarding World Harry would remember.

"Umm… Hagrid was the only one to come get me. Maybe when my uncle took us aw- uh… took us on vacation, the other professors couldn't find me." Harry's face was flush with uncertainty and he was picking at a loose thread on his right sleeve absent-mindedly.

Neville stared at Harry open-mouthed, flabbergast at the thought that _Hagrid_ of all people was a muggle-raised introduction to the intricacies of the Wizard World. Gran sat on the Board of Educators for Hogwarts and had on occasion visited a muggleborn student when admittance was higher than normal, but he never thought that Hagrid would be an option for Hogwarts staff. The man never even graduated from Hogwarts and worshipped the ground Albus Dumbledore walked on.

"Neville… is something wrong? I… I thought Hagrid was really nice."

Neville focused his vision on the raven-haired boy in front of him and smiled thinly, "Hagrid is a gem, but he's not exactly the leading authority on the Wizarding World. He's also very… uh… easily distracted."

Harry cracked a small smile at the last statement, "Yeah, I guess. He didn't fully explain everything, I suppose. He's still very nice; he gave me Hedwig as a birthday present!"

Neville saw Harry light up at the mention of his owl. The light flush that spread across his cheeks was nothing like the embarrassed burn that had been almost permanently etched onto his face. This was radiant and made Harry look happy; Neville wanted to always make Harry look like this. Neville settled into the train car seat, content to talk about Harry's new familiar, but in the back of his mind, however, Neville was concerned how cavalier the Hogwarts staff was with the reentry of the muggle-raised Boy-Who-Lived into the Wizarding World. And why did Dumbledore lead everyone to believe that Harry Potter was raised by wizards? He'd write to Gran about what he had learned about Harry and also see if she could find out why Dumbledore lied.

…

Harry was stroking Hedwig's feathers lightly and telling Neville about Hedwig and her favorite snacks and her loving quirks and playful nips. He hadn't realized how long he had been talking about his familiar until he looked up to see Neville looking at him with slightly glazed eyes.

"What?" Harry felt his cheeks redden, he didn't know what that look meant. He hoped that he hadn't upset Neville. Bad things happened to him when people were upset. "I'm sorry for talking so much. I won't bother you anymore."

Harry looked down at his lap and tried not to feel disappointed. He probably just pushed away the only friend he had ever had by running his good-for-nothing mouth.

Neville looked a little startled, "What? No, please, you weren't bothering me! I like listening to you talk! I was just… lost in my thoughts, I guess. Please, you can talk as much as you like."

Harry peeked up at Neville and said meekly, "Okay. Sorry"

Neville huffed out a soft laugh, "You don't have to apologize, Harry."

Harry held back another apology, unsure what to do. The Dursley's always expected an apology, even if the current situation wasn't his fault. Unsure of himself, Harry looked down at his hands and fiddled with a loose thread, and nodded his head softly.

Neville seemed to realize Harry's discomfort and asked, "So, do you have any other pets at home?"

Harry looked up at Neville, "Huh? Uh no. I don't have any other pets. My aunt doesn't like animals in the house. She was very upset that I had Hedwig. I'm not sure if she is going to let Hedwig back in the house the next time I go back."

"Well, if she doesn't let you keep her, you could always let her stay with me for the summer. She can fly our letters back and forth for us."

"Really? You want to write letters to me?" Harry couldn't believe all of the things that Neville kept saying to him. He was so nice and kind. A small part of his heart refused to listen to all the warm words, wanting to be ready for the proverbial shoe to drop, but a larger, more optimistic part of Harry basked in the kindness Neville kept showing him.

"Well, I'm not a Seer, but I would like to think that we will still be friends come December, so yeah, of course!"

Harry felt an unusual warmth spread across his chest at Neville's words and smiled at the other boy and he thanked the other boy, feeling the warm feeling move up to his cheeks.

Neville had started to tell Harry about his toad, when the door to their cabin flew open to reveal a young girl with bushy brown hair, dressed smartly in a Hogwarts uniform, a blue crest with the words "Ravenclaw" etched across stood out on the right shoulder.

The unexpected girl spoke promptly to the two boys, "If you want to be dressed by the time we pull into the station, I suggest that you start changing now. We will be arriving in half and hour. It would be bad form to show up to Hogwarts in your play clothes."

With that said, the girl spun around and marched off, assumedly to speak to other students on the train.

….

Neville stared at the spot where the girl had stood, "Well, that was a bit rude. I guess it's true, though, about Ravenclaw's and their lacking social skills. We'll have to see if the rest of the house holds up to that stereotype. I sure hope not."

Normally, Neville would be less harsh, but her abrupt entrance and harsh words seemed to have frightened Harry. Neville smiled gently at Harry and siad, "We probably should get dressed. I can get our trunks down."

Harry watched as Neville got his trunk down. When Neville had moved his trunk from the overhanging rack he asked, "Is Ravenclaw the other house? Hagrid told me about Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. He said Slytherin made evil wizards."

Neville once again wondered what Hogwart's staff was thinking when the left Harry Potter in the daft, but well-meaning hands of Rubeus Hagrid. Neville sat on his trunk and looked at Harry.

"There are four houses at Hogwarts; Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Each house has its standard traits. Loyalty to Hufflepuff. Ambition to Slytherin. Bravery to Gryffindor. Intelligence to Ravenclaw. My Gran says that none of them great only bad wizards or only good wizards, that each house has its good and bad within." Neville knew his Gran's opinion was unpopular amongst other wizards and witches, but she unashamedly stood by it, and had ingrained it into him as well.

Harry looked skeptical, but didn't say anything about it. Neville decided to let Harry mull over the new information and grabbed Harry's trunk down from overhead. When he set it down, he turned around and grinned at Harry.

"Well, I guess it's time to put our robes on! Hogwarts here we come!"

Harry looked up at him, a shy grin blossomed onto his face as he returned the toast, "Here we come."


End file.
